October 16, 2025
FWF Principal Investigator Grant for Elif Karagöz
Elif Karagöz, group leader at the Max Perutz Labs, has been awarded a Principal Investigator Grant from the Austrian Science Fund (FWF), to investigate how IGF2BP3 modulates gene expression during endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress.
The endoplasmic reticulum (ER) handles the folding and maturation of approximately one third of the proteome, including most of the secreted proteins. When cells experience proteotoxic stress, they activate a protective signaling pathway known as the unfolded protein response (UPR). One mechanism by which the UPR helps to restore homeostasis is by regulating gene expression. However, much less is known about how cells fine-tune RNA levels following their synthesis. With her newly funded FWF project, group leader Elif Karagöz aims to uncover in the next three years, how post-transcriptional regulation contributes to this essential stress response. Her team focuses on the RNA-binding protein IGF2BP3, which, under normal conditions, stabilizes mRNAs involved in the UPR but, intriguingly, promotes their breakdown during ER stress. “We want to understand how IGF2BP3 switches its behavior – from protecting to degrading specific mRNAs – and how this adaptability helps cells survive stress”, says Elif. Since IGF2BP proteins are often overexpressed in aggressive cancers, the project could also reveal whether and how tumor cells exploit stress pathways to adapt and thrive.
Read the Max Perutz Labs News here.
Read more about the Karagöz lab at the Max Perutz Labs and about their work in our Special Research Program.